The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

Every thought, every word, and every action leaves an imprint on our mind.

The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

Buddhist practice is not to eliminate life's problems but to grow with them patiently and with compassion.

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

Short moments, many times. That is the essence of meditation practice.

The essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

The practice of meditation requires both energy and patience, both effort and relaxation.

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

Technical knowledge is not enough. One must transcend techniques so that the art becomes an artless art, growing out of the unconscious.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

The ultimate purpose of Buddhism is to serve and benefit humanity.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

Where there is great doubt, there is great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

The mind is the source of all happiness and the source of all suffering.

The practice of mindfulness transforms the mind from a place of suffering into an instrument of enlightenment.

The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your actions will be.

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

External seeking only leads to exhaustion. When you imitate others, you lose your own authenticity.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life.

The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it.

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.